What is Roon? Samsung-owned Harman bought the audiophile-friendly Spotify rival as "standalone" business

Harman, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, has acquired Roon, a music management, discovery, and streaming platform for music enthusiasts. 

Roon is a music platform like never before. Unlike apps like Spotify and Apple Music, Roon is more of a music management, discovery, and streaming platform for audiophiles. 

It is not a streaming service itself, but rather a platform that integrates with your local music library and streaming services like Tidal and Qobuz. 

While Spotify playback is currently unavailable through Roon, there is a promising possibility that Apple Music integration might materialize in the future. This potential stems from Apple’s dev tool updates that empower third-party developers to seamlessly incorporate more Apple Music functionality into their applications.

Roon will then continue to operate as a self-contained division within Harman, maintaining its current team and operations. The Samsung subsidiary also plans to expand Roon’s compatibility with various audio devices, working with over 160 audio brands and ensuring seamless connectivity with over 1,000 high-performance devices.

Samsung completed the acquisition of Harman back in 2017. 

“The team at Roon shares our passion in bringing exceptional sound and connectivity to music lovers as they browse, discover, and listen at home and on the go,” says Harman’s President of Lifestyle Division, Dave Rogers, in the official release note.